Most Improved Player: Midseason Predictions

(Past MIP Predictions: Preseason|December)

We’re at the midway point of the 2014-’15 season, and the picture is starting to get clearer in the Most Improved Player race. This award is a hard one to project early on in the season, as it’s often won by players who came out of nowhere. Now, it’s finally easier to see who has played their way into the race for the MIP award.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Knight

Knight has led the resurgence of the Bucks. Milwaukee has quietly put a stranglehold on the sixth seed in the East, and they were even fifth ahead of Cleveland for a few days last week. The key reason for that has been the rise of the former Kentucky point guard. Knight has upped his per-game averages across the board while also serving as the leader of a Milwaukee squad that’s worked its way up the Eastern Conference ladder.

5. Kyle Korver

Did you know that Kyle Korver is currently shooting 53.5% from three? No, really. Go look it up. FIFTY-THREE PERCENT. No one’s ever seen anything like it. And he’s done it on 243 attempts– that’s 5.8 attempts per game. Korver is ahead of Steve Kerr’s record 52% shooting from downtown. But Kerr did it in 170 attempts over 82 games–roughly two attempts per game. Korver is shooting three times as much than the record-holder at a better percentage. That’s insane.

4. DeMarcus Cousins

Take a look at Cousins’ numbers sometime. They’re eye-popping to say the least. 24 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. 48% shooting from the field to go with 80% from the foul line. A PER of nearly 26. Even as the Kings have slipped in the standings, Cousins has remained as good as ever, and he’s made the transition from a future star to a current star.

3. Draymond Green

The former Spartan has emerged as a starter on the best team in the league and a lockdown defender. The league has seen a lot of young, athletic top-flight defenders in recent years– think Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler– and many of those have gone on to become stars. He’s more than just a defensive stud, too–he’s more valuable than Tony Allen ever was, and Allen was the best perimeter defender in the league for years who’s still going strong in Memphis at age 33. Green is a far better rebounder who contributes more offensively than Allen ever did. Last year, he was just a mediocre rotation player, but now, Draymond Green is a vital part of what Golden State does.

2. Jeff Teague

The Hawks have been the story of the first half of this season. I’m a noted fan of Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefolosha, and I did think people who said before the season that they’d finish below Miami–or even miss the playoffs entirely (surprisingly, there were a lot of these people)– were crazy. But I never could have predicted this. Teague has been the fourth-best point guard in the East this season behind Kyle Lowry, John Wall, and Derrick Rose If He Stays Healthy. No, I didn’t forget about Kyrie Irving. Teague has been better this season, and deserves an All-Star nod. (Note: The Hawks deserve four All-Star spots. How can anyone leave out one of Teague, Millsap, Korver, and Horford? No one else in the East can hold a candle to what the Hawks have done this year, and those four are the main reasons why).

1. Jimmy Butler

Jimmy G. Buckets was my pick for the number 1 spot in the December edition of these rankings, and he hasn’t relinquished that spot.. He’s shown a hell of a lot of improvement this season, and despite a recent slump is still averaging over 20 points per game. That slump has exposed some of Butler’s weaknesses–the scoring isn’t as consistent yet as some might like it to be–but it’s also revealed that even at his worst, Butler is a force to be reckoned with on defense and a solid offensive player.